CAROL MARINELLI - The Italian's Touch

‘No,’ Wendy said cheerfully. ‘But you can fill me in when you find out.’

A quick look down the corridor confirmed that as usual Danny was nowhere to be seen, and the rest of the staff were either tied up or deliberately looking busy. Informing Lucy that she wouldn’t be long, Fleur made her way to Resus.

As she opened the door a rocket didn’t actually whiz past her ear, but there were definitely fireworks in the air.

‘Great,’ Mario shouted as she slipped in. ‘Now they send in the nurse that ‘‘doesn’t do Resus’’.’

‘As opposed to what?’ Fleur looked over to where Felicity stood, red-eyed, by the defibrillator. The drug trolley was in chaos, boxes and vials of drugs scattered over the top.

‘As opposed to the nurse who doesn’t know how basic equipment works, or where the drugs are kept.’

Fleur looked at the monitor. The patient was still in rapid VT.

‘I want to cardiovert him, Felicity was trying to defibrillate him.’

‘How many joules do you want?’

‘Two hundred,’ he snarled as Fleur flicked the switch necessary for cardioversion as opposed to defibrillation. Picking up the paddles, she applied them to the gel pads already in place on the patient’s chest.

‘Clear,’ she called.

Mario briefly dropped the ambu-bag he was using to oxygenate the patient. As the patient’s rhythm settled the doors flew open as the cardiac arrest team breathlessly arrived.

‘Did you stop at the canteen on the way?’ Mario shouted as they gathered around the patient’s trolley. ‘I assume you learnt in medical school that brain death occurs after three minutes.’

Charming, Fleur thought, her mouth set in a thin line as she assisted Felicity. At least his arrogance wasn’t only for her benefit.

Danny, of course, turned up when all the drama was over. ‘Fleur, you’re in here!’

‘Again!’ Fleur said pointedly. ‘Could I have a word, Danny?’

Danny’s office was a mess—papers everywhere, overflowing trays of work. Taking a seat, she got straight to the point.

‘Felicity didn’t know how to set the machine for cardioversion.’

Danny let out a long sigh. ‘Well, she should, she’s been to enough lectures. I’ll have a word.’

‘I think a bit more that a word from you is needed, Danny. What is she doing in there when she doesn’t know the equipment? And from what I can make out, she wasn’t particularly crash hot on locating where the drugs and everything were kept. Mario Ruffini was furious and, as much as I don’t approve of his methods, he had every right to be angry. She shouldn’t be in there without supervision until she’s more capable.’

‘So what do you suggest?’ He tossed the roster sheet across the table. ‘Have a look at the choices, Fleur, and tell me who you’d put in there.’

Fleur ran her eyes down the names on the list. He had a fair point—there certainly wasn’t a wealth of knowledge behind the names there.

‘I’ve got a permanent advertisement for staff in the newspapers, I’ve got our department on every nursing agency’s list and yet I still can’t get any more experienced staff. I’m not trying to lay a guilt trip on you, Fleur. I took you on, knowing you weren’t ready to go in there yet, and I’m prepared to wait. I don’t want you to lose your confidence too early and leave, then we really will have achieved nothing. And as for Mario letting off steam, it’s no big deal—he does it every day.’

‘That doesn’t make it all right!’

But Danny just laughed. ‘He takes a bit of getting used to, I admit that, but he does grow on you in the end.’

‘So do warts,’ Fleur quipped. ‘He shouldn’t be allowed to jackboot his way around the department.’ She paused for a moment before continuing. She’d known Danny a long time and they were friends, but it was still a rather hesitant Fleur that steered the conversation. ‘How come you’re not out there a bit more, Danny?’

‘Someone’s got to run the place.’ He gestured to the desk around him. ‘The fairies don’t come in at night.’

‘That never stopped you before. You were always out there helping out.’

‘I’ll have a word with Felicity,’ he said, effectively ending the discussion. ‘And I’ll tell Mario to go a bit easy on her. Anyway, he’s off for the rest of the week at some medical conference so you don’t have to worry about him for a while.’

Fleur stood up. ‘Speak to Felicity, but as for Mario I’d like to deal with him myself.’

Danny looked up to where she stood by the door. ‘It might come better from you, given that you were there. Are you sure you don’t mind?’

‘I don’t mind at all,’ Fleur said darkly. ‘In fact, it will be my pleasure.’

Infuriatingly, now she was actually ready for a confrontation Mario was nowhere in sight. After checking the cubicles and Resus, Fleur thought she’d try her luck in the obs ward. He wasn’t there, of course, but the rather raucous laughter coming from the staffroom soon ended her search.

How did he do it? The doctors he’d been shouting at only fifteen minutes ago were now sharing a coffee and a joke with him, even Felicity had forgiven him and was joining in the laughter.

‘Mr Ruffini?’ Every eye turned to her as she stood primly in the doorway. ‘I’d like a word, please.’

‘Sure,’ he said amicably, though not moving an inch. ‘How can I help you?’

‘Perhaps this might be better done in private.’ Her voice left no room for doubt that she wasn’t happy. Not remotely fazed, Mario gave a nonchalant shrug as he replaced his mug on the table.

‘Excuse me, guys, I think I am being summoned.’ He followed Fleur out of the room. ‘Would my office be private enough for you, Sister?’

She gave a small nod of approval and followed him the short distance.

The sight of his office took the wind out of her sails. Danny’s was a mess but this was an absolute bombsite! Open-mouthed, she stared at the mountains of paper, the opened books, numerous coffee-cups.

‘You wanted to speak with me?’

Dragging her eyes from his desk, Fleur remembered why she was here.

‘I do. You may also have noticed that I asked to speak with you in private.’

‘Yes.’ He gave her a quizzical look, before his face broke into a grin. ‘Do you want me to check for bugs?’

‘Don’t be so flippant!’ Fleur checked herself instantly. This was a consultant she was talking to after all, not Alex—though his office did somehow resemble her son’s bedroom when left unchecked!

‘The reason I asked to speak to you in private is because I believe that when someone has a grievance, while I agree it should be aired, there is a correct way of going about it.’

‘I am sorry, Sister, I really don’t understand what you are talking about.’ He gestured to his chair. ‘May I sit for this?’

His question was unnecessary and curiously insolent, and Fleur stood rigid as he calmly made his way around the desk.

‘You screaming at the staff in Resus is not only rude, it is ineffective. In the time you spent shouting at Felicity you could have shown her how to work the machine. I don’t know how they do it in Italy, but it certainly doesn’t wash here.’

‘Doesn’t wash?’ He screwed up his forehead.

‘You know exactly what I mean.’

‘No, Sister, I don’t. In fact, since you bring it up, I will tell you how things are done in Italy. The staff there are qualified and competent. I do not have to ask three times for a drug, I do not have to stop bagging an unconscious patient and deprive them of oxygen so that I can show the nurse how the machine works. Now do you understand why I shout? And contrary to what you say, I happen to find my methods extremely effective. I got the drug, didn’t I? I got a nurse who could operate the equipment!’